When we set up the Desh Apnayen Sahayog Foundation in 2015, our vision was ambitious – to help co-create Democracy 2.0 in India. Our country is the world’s largest democracy, but what can we as citizens do to make it the world’s best democracy? The answer lies in each one of us becoming an ACTiZEN, that is, to be Alert about what is going on around us, Informed about the issues and solutions, and Active in solving the issues, alone, in groups or together with the government.
We believe that the young people of our nation hold the key to change situations with their innate curiosity, energy and optimism. The foundation has, therefore, chosen to work primarily with school students. The ACTiZENS’ Club programme, which is our flagship initiative, engages students from government, government-aided and private schools across 14 states through a set of activities centred on themes such as democracy and local governance.
We offer extensive training and support to the teachers who conduct the programme in their schools, employing tools like role-plays, group discussions and experiential activities. The aim is to cultivate problem-solving and civic engagement skills, alongside building a deeper understanding of democratic concepts. Offered at no cost to the schools, the club programme is being run in 9,581 schools this academic year with the support of the education departments of state governments in Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. The response has been rewarding and humbling.
In addition to our on-ground initiative, we started a monthly blog series on the theme of active citizenship on 2nd October – Gandhi Jayanti – last year. Gandhiji embodies the ACTiZEN spirit like no one else does! And we are heartened to see that month after month, eminent thought leaders and founders of other NGOs have shared illuminating insights in order to keep the flag of ACTiZENship flying high.
Such inspiring stories, both from our work with the schools and the articles that are up on our blog, highlight the diverse and numerous ways in which people across all ages are driving positive change in their communities. In doing so, they are demonstrating the transformative power of individual and collective action and taking us closer to our vision of realising Democracy 2.0.
Kudos to all of you and thank you!
Here’s a short video featuring excerpts from the blog articles published so far.
Our founder, Mr. Vallabh Bhanshali is a thought leader, businessman, devoted Vipassana meditator, and philanthropist.
